Gospel of the day
From the Gospel according to Luke 6:12-19
Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.
You Decide
The truth is — let’s not deceive ourselves — we always have time for what we truly want. If I do not live a life of prayer, it is because for me it is not a priority. And if it is not, it means I do not understand what I am risking by living without it.
Perhaps you have come away from one of our retreats filled with the great joy of seeing that it is indeed possible to live a happy marriage. But if time has gone by, and you no longer see it so clearly, what you are lacking is prayer.
Do you want to live a marriage as God intended it? Pray.
Do you want to have peace? Pray.
Do you want to be happy? Pray.
Do you say you love God and yet do not pray? The measure of your love for God is the measure of your prayer. If God always has time for me, how could I ever say that I do not have time for Him?
We see our Lord spending whole nights in prayer. Jesus always prayed (and He was God), but at the critical moments of His life on earth, He prayed even more. We came forth from God and we shall return to Him. Sooner or later we shall enter eternal life. Choose the way of prayer, so that your destination may be heaven. You decide.
Brought into Married Life
(Mary speaks with her mentor)
Mary: Rachel, we’re back to the same old thing again. I admit I’m unbearable, but Paul doesn’t help either. The other day we were leaving the house and already running late. Same story as always: he takes ages to get ready, I lost my patience, shouted at him, shouted at the children — well, at him too a bit. Then he got angry with me… In the end we even went to bed without speaking, can you believe it? It felt just like the beginning again!
Rachel: How long has it been since you last prayed together?
Mary: Ugh…
Rachel: Mary, there is no life of love without prayer. You know this already. It’s not about praying one day and not the next. Live a life of prayer — faithful, daily — because, as the Lord tells us: “Without Me you can do nothing.” It is up to you to make the decision. Courage!
Mary,
You who are full of grace, because your life was prayer, because everything you did was done in union with God: help us to persevere in prayer, help us to realise that without a life of prayer, there can be no life of grace. Blessed are you forever, Mother!